Thunderstorms delay start

GOLF/The Masters: Instead of yardage books tucked into their rear pockets, professional golfers - at least on the US Tour - may consider loading meteorological manuals into their bags in future.

As the season moved into its 15th week, a tournament, and not just any old tournament, was affected by the weather for a ninth time as thunderstorms yesterday disrupted the start of the 69th US Masters.

On this occasion, the weather fronts that brought thunder and lightning to the area shortly before the scheduled start caused a five and a half hours delay before the first round finally got under way.

For much of the morning and into the early afternoon, dark clouds seeping rain drops hovered over Augusta National.

By now, though, players have become philosophical of the mockery inflicted on them by the weather gods.

"We knew it was going to happen. You can't do anything about it, that's the nature of things," remarked Padraig Harrington, who took time out in the locker room to sift through correspondence from fans - mostly letters with US stamps - during the delay.

Others, like Kirk Triplett, read a book, in his case a spy novel. "The delay shouldn't really affect anyone.

"We knew it was coming, we should be prepared for it," he said.

The rain, which had been forecast, began falling at 7.05am and, within an hour, heavy downpours were soaking the course.

Jonathan Kaye was due to strike the first tee-shot at 8.05am but, instead, didn't do so until 1.30pm. It was the fourth week in a row that a weather delay struck a tournament in America and the fourth year running that the Masters has suffered an interruption in play.

A decision was taken by the tournament committee to introduce a two-tee start - off the 1st and 10th holes - in an attempt to make up some lost ground.

The two-tee start will operate for the first two rounds, in the hope that time can be made up for the final two rounds over the weekend. The weather forecast for the weekend is much better, with only a slight chance of rain tomorrow and sunny skies anticipated for Sunday.

Ted Purdy, who has played each of the last four patience-testing weeks (during which the Bay Hill Invitational, the Players Championship and the BellSouth Classic were affected) was girding for several long days as the heavy rain changed the complexion of the 7,290-yard par-72 golf course, which had been firm and fast in the practice rounds with some of the slickest greens competitors could remember.

But a SubAir system under Augusta's famed greens, plus the undulations on those putting surfaces, kept them from becoming dart boards. "I think it will take a lot of rain to change the greens," said Purdy, playing in his first Masters. "I don't know what they do to them. t's like they put umbrellas over them."

In actual fact, the SubAir system was primarily responsible for keeping the greens reasonably firm, despite the heavy rain.

The first such permanent system was installed on the 13th green in the mid-1990s and there are now SubAirs under every green, effectively sucking the rainfall down into drains.

Yet, by the time play did start, the green staff - who used suction pumps to empty water from bunkers - had returned the course to immaculate shape; although Billy Casper, the champion in 1970, may have wished that the delay had lasted a little longer.

On the par three 16th hole, Casper took 14. It became the worst scored recorded at that hole, breaking the record 11 taken by Herman Barron in 1950.

Having started on the 10th, he reached the turn in 57!

In running up that hideous score, Casper put the ball into the water five times before finally finding the putting surface.

Once there, he proceeded to three-putt on a green that has caused more than its share of heartache down the years.

Casper's problems didn't affect everyone, however. For Harrington, it was to be a very solid start. Having cut his ball down the left-hand side of the fairway on the first, the Dubliner's approach shot to the green finished 15 feet from the flag. It left him with a right-to-left breaking putt that grazed the hole.

After a tap-in par, he birdied the par five second and, then, reeled off five successive pars.

It wasn't such a solid start for Graeme McDowell, in his debut appearance in the Masters.

Starting on the 10th, McDowell - wearing a bright orange shirt with matching crocodile belt - had a stuttering opening to his round that saw him go bogey-par-bogey-par-bogey-par-bogey and, immediately, put himself under pressure to make the cut.

Four over after seven holes, the Portrush golfer needed to find something from somewhere.

Darren Clarke, meanwhile, also faced starting his round on the difficult back nine but opened with two pars, before suffering a bogey four on the 12th.

Although the rain reduced the run on the fairways, conditions were near ideal once play did manage to get under way and 28-year-old American, Ryan Palmer, who won his maiden tour event last season when winning the Walt Disney World, where he started the final round five strokes behind but finished with a career-best 62 to win by three, made the most of it.

Palmer, who started on the 10th, grabbed his first birdie on the 12th and then added further birdies on the 14th and 15th to move to three under par after six holes which opened up a one stroke lead over a group that featured Casey Wittenberg - who secured his place in the field last year when, as an amateur, he finished tied-13th - Australians Stuart Appleby and Nick O'Hern, and Japan's Shingo Katayama.

Mark O'Meara also moved to two-under with a fast start, recording birdies on the 11th and 13th (his second and fourth holes) And what of the so-called Big Five?

World number one Vijay Singh birdied the third to move to one-under; Tiger Woods bogeyed the 11th - his second hole - to be one-over after three.

Ernie Els had a horrible start, bogeying his first two holes, the 10th and 11th, to be two-over; defending champion Phil Mickelson bogeyed his first hole, but bounced back with back-to-back birdies on the second and third; and Retief Goosen was one-under for his round after six holes.